Comedy central has a new way of reaching to their fans. Now that the internet has become extremely popular TV networks such as comedy central are capitalizing on this new information highway. Politics are very boring but the way that John Stuart and Steven Colbert ironically report on the latest political news is very hip and it appeals to the youth of today. Now with this blog people can speak out and say what they feel, something you cant do while watching tv. Here is the link if your interested in checking out how to get involved in your TV viewing experience.http://blog.indecision2008.com/

 

nathan

I stumbled upon this website as I browsing through online communities to write about. Petcentric is a website designed for users who are passionate about their pets. Users can create “pet” accounts showing off photos of their pooch or cat. You can list anything from their favorite treats, toys, and activities. Did your pup do something funny at dinner? You can write about it if you’d like or just browse upcoming news and events to see whats going on the pet world. In any case, dedicated owners and casual dog/cat lovers can enjoy the site’s content either way.

Here is an example of an individual-made website where a person, not a company, writes the content for others to read. As a creative writing major, I found something in the Internet that will be helpful and fun to other writers as well. It’s the Creative Writing Corner at www.blairhurley.com . Author Blair Hurley studies creative writing and literature, and she shares some creative writing tips and her creative writing experience. She leaves a post on her blog just about every day, including inspiring writing exercises or just small little things to pay attention to when writing a story. She even writes about some of her favorite authors, like Dante or John Steinbeck.

Why am I recommending this site? Well, I think it is really great for writers to be able to visit a website where they can learn about creative writing from someone who has experience. Hurley writes about her experience as a writer so that other writers can relate when there is “writer’s block” or a favorite book that is hard to forget. Her style is very friendly; even those who haven’t thought about creative writing might still be curious enough to visit her site and see what helpful, inspiring suggestion she will lend for creative writers everywhere. This is also a way that Hurley is making herself known in the writing universe; she has dreams and goals like all writers who want to be published. Her website can help many writers feel connected and know that they are not alone in pursuing this creative passion to impact the lives of many readers.

For my English 313 classmates out there:

I feel like I must recommend a couple of the author’s recent posts. One is a list of places to get ideas for stories, and the other one is something definitely taking a look at! This second recommended post is about how TV commercials are also stories–”little mini-stories,” in Blair Hurley’s words. Is this starting to sound familar? Ahh…I love her blog already. Whether you are a novelist, a creative writing major, or English/Literature major or just someone who loves to write or even read fiction, this is an excellent blog to visit. Here are the two posts:

www.blairhurley.com/2008/04/10-places-to-ge.html

www.blairhurley.com/2008/04/stories-are-eve.html

I recently went online to re-up on supplements and i came across a forum that is all about supplements. People try out new supplements and post how those supplements helped them achieve their goals. Alot of people think of supplements as a way of cheating to get “bigger” or “buffer” when the truth is that supplements are just that, supplements, they are intended to be used to supplement your diet. When you are weight training for a couple hours a day you use up alot of different nutrients in your body that you may not be able to gain back through simply eating. Even though i eat approximately 3500 calories a day i still dont get all the nutrients i need so i use supplements. The supplements i use are Amino Acids, Glutamine, BCAA’s, Creatine and all three types of Protein.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70 

     I want to take this time to discuss user-made websites in general.  There are many ways to get noticed by the public: there’s the newspaper, television, and for the musician’s out there, there is the radio.  So many of us have a secret desire, or a not-so-secret desire, to get ourselves out there and be known to much of the world.  However, not everyone has access to all of these ways in which to get outside attention.

     The Internet has been, and still is, a fairly easy way for some people to get attention, and even make new friends.  Websites like blogs and online communites in general can give us a choice of whether we want to be noticed by the world, or just help relatives and friends keep track of what you’ve been up to.   People with similar interests visit sites like MySpace or Facebook to check and see if someone visited their site by leaving comments or just viewing the page.  It is possible now to build an online network with interesting and exciting people who, for example, love a certain kind of television show like Lost, or are associated with a neighborhood indie rock band.   There are aspiring writers who try to make themselves public by creating a personalized website that expresses their life, experience and struggle to be noticed as a writer and eventually, an accomplished author.

     Many of  us have a secret (or not-so-secret) desire to be noticed by others, by which those others can even be total strangers.  If it is hard to get noticed in other ways,  then for some it appears to be the easiest way to put a public identity online.  It seems convienient…that is, for those who have the time and constant access to a computer with the Internet.

     In the very-near future, I will find a few more examples of the individual-made websites and group-made websites and discuss them here.

www.facebook.com

Facebook is a social networking website that was launched on February 4, 2004. The website is owned and operated by Facebook, Inc., the parent company of the website and a privately held company. The free-access website allows users to join one or more networks, such as a school, place of employment, or geographic region to easily connect and interact with other people. Users can post messages for their friends to see, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The name of the website refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus. The website has more than 69 million active users worldwide. From September 2006 to September 2007, the website’s ranking among all websites, in terms of traffic, increased from 60th to 7th. It is also the most popular website for uploading photos, with 14 million uploaded daily.

The website is free to users and generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads. Users create profiles that often contain photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends.

BusinessWeek reported on March 28, 2006 that a potential acquisition of the website was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million, and it was rumored that the asking price rose as high as $2 billion.

www.livejournal.com

LiveJournal (often abbreviated LJ) is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. The basis of LJ is “social networking.” LiveJournal was started in March 1999 by Brad Fitzpatrick as a way of keeping his high school friends updated on his activities. Each journal entry has its own web page, which includes the comments left by other users. In addition, each user has a journal page, which shows all of his or her most recent journal entries, along with links to the comment pages.
The most distinctive feature of LiveJournal is the “friends list,” which gives the site a strong social aspect in addition to the blog services.  Each user has a friends page, which collects the most recent journal entries of the people on his or her friends list.

The term “friend” on LiveJournal is mostly a technical term; however, because the term “friend” is emotionally loaded for many people. As with most weblogs, people can comment on each other’s journal entries and create a message board-style thread of comments – each comment can be replied to individually, starting a new thread.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/ 

“Celebrity gossip at its greatest.”

This is a community on LJ which primarily focuses on pop-culture, whether it be celebrities, movies, tv shows, music, etc. The community boasts over 50,000 members and has also been mentioned on shows like “TMZ” and Oprah, who listed it has one of her guilty pleasures. Members can submit entries to the Moderators, who will decide if the subject is “post-worthy.” If there is a situation that is “important” to the pop-culture world, like when Britney shaved her head or when Heath Ledger died, there is usually a “race” to see who can post it the fastest. Then it becomes a “race” to see which member can post the “best” comment, and is similar to a message board. This community lives for celebrities and glorigies in any and all of their mishaps. It’s one way to get all the latest celebrity-info but has a reputation for being mean and crude but yet, it works because it’s one of LJ’s biggest communities.

Myspace is a great place for people to entertain themselves or others. There are different categories for people to find entertainment. The categorie called Entertainment lists links such as: books, celebrity, comedy, filmmakers, games, karaoke, movies, music, and many more. The music link: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music , for example, takes the entertainee to a new page full of new featured artists and bands that are becoming well known because of Myspace’s huge network of people. This page also features older musical artists and bands that have their music on Myspace. This website is a popular place for bands to be members of because when the bands are members then people who have Myspace profiles can add the band’s songs onto their profile for everyone in the network to see. This is great advertising for the bands because there are hundreds of thousands of people who are Myspace members.

     Lists can be extremely helpful.  They help us remember things we don’t want to forget, and remind us of things we got done or things we didn’t accomplish yet.

     But lists can also be very entertaining, considering the wide range of categories they can have. This website I came across is a collection of lists here at http://kingoflists.blogspot.com, and it certainly is what it’s title says: a king of lists.  There is something for everyone to find a list about.  The labels go to topics such as sleep, life, love, and the Internet.  Speaking of which, I found a particular post that many will find interesting, especially since it has to do with the Internet:

http://kingoflists.blogspot.com/2007/07/top-20-lesser-remembered-internet.html

This link will take you to a list of definitions for internet acronyms that are not well known, but are entertaining to learn about.  It’s funny, it’s a little creepy (not in a bad way), and it certainly got my attention.  As an English major, it is interesting to me how language is written so that letters put together represent a string of words, and some groups of people may have an understanding what the Internet acronyms can mean.   It’s fascinating, and these acronyms are almost (not quite) like a secret language.  Take a look, and enjoy!

LakersGround is an online forum dedicated to anything and everything related to the Los Angeles Lakers. I personally am a basketball fan so I finding this wealth of information led me to bookmark this site. This website offers everything from general basketball discussion to play-by-play analysis of their games. Members can also voice their own opinions on everything from player stats, trade rumors, and the NBA lottery. Additionally, forum members can even scalp tickets to upcoming games.